The NYU wrestling team had an impressice showing Saturday, placing second of 11 teams at the Ted Reese Invitational in Gorham, Maine.
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The field included teams from Division I, Division II and Division III schools. The Violets posted a team score of 95.5, just 4.5 points behind the first-place winner, Trinity College.
Three NYU wrestlers came away with individual titles at the tournament. Senior David Rice won all five of his matches in the 165-pound division and was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler. His most impressive victory came in the semifinals when he beat Ronnie Tetreault of American International College. Tetreault is the eighth-ranked wrestler in Division II.
Rice remains unbeaten with a 12-0 record on the season. He is currently ranked eighth in Division III.
"David Rice wrestled very well," head coach Bruce Haberli said. "He beat two great wrestlers to win the tournament and remain undefeated."
Junior Janik Santana-Quintana was able to win his second individual title of the season, winning in the 125-pound class. Santana-Quintana easily won his first two matches before being slated to wrestle freshman teammate Alex Becker in the final. But the decision was made not to have the teammates wrestle each other and Becker withdrew.
It was a strong showing for Becker, who was wrestling in his first tournament since coming back from an injury.
The third individual title winner was senior Gregg Martino in the 174-pound division. Martino squared off in the final against fellow teammate Pat Sheehan and was able to emerge victorious over the freshman by a score of 10-3. Martino is currently ranked sixth in Division III.
Coming up just short to his teammate in the finals, Sheehan has been impressive in his first season with the team.
"Pat continues to get better as the season progresses, and we know we are going to get something great out of Pat in the future," Haberli said.
Despite not entering wrestlers in the 133-pound, 141-pound and heavyweight divisions, NYU was still able to place second in the invitational and beat Division I opponents.
"I thought we did very well," Haberli said. "I wasn't surprised by our performance this weekend. We are a great team when we are healthy."
The team's next match is Friday, Dec. 9 at Stevens Institute of Technology. The team is 2-3 in dual matches so far this season.
